Hard to believe, but this is our 15th and final WWOOF stay! A small organic farming operation a half-hour north of the Gulf of Morbihan. Lovely small Breton villages all over the place, with old stone houses and slate roofs, and plenty of local culture and lore. Bodhi would have a nice surprise, as we would work side-by-side with a young family with a 15-month-old daughter, who, interestingly enough, plan to embark on a 1-year-long bicycle voyage around southern Europe in September. In short, a peaceful, pleasant and satisfying stay to round out our year's worth of travelling...
THE PEOPLE:
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| Our host, Morgan Ody. Morgan has been here for 6 years, running a small-scale organic vegetable farm. |
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| Julie and one-year-old Lina. Julie and her partner Thibeault live on Morgan's land and do work-trades for Morgan in exchange. |
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| Katy and Bo enjoying some afternoon sunshine. The weather was perfect for our entire stay here, about 25° everyday. |
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| Bo and Jeff and a parachuting cow. |
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| Bo wasted no time in hitting the fresh cherries. |
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| Katy and Morgan in the greenhouses. |
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| Thibeault, Lina and Julie. |
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| The three of us in nearby Auray. |
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| Bo and Morgan playing on the beach. |
THE PLACE:
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| Morgan's farm is located in the hamlet of Calan, near the small town of Brech. |
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| The house. |
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| The farm is called La ferme de Mangetout. |
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| Bo on a visit to the fields of crops. |
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| Katy, Julie and Lina in the kitchen. |
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| Typical house in Calan. |
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| Neighboring buildings... |
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| Bo: getting the hang of his balance bike in front of the chapel. |
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| Bo: in the bath in the yard. |
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| Bo: grabbing fresh raspberries, connoisseur-style. |
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| Chasing Mammy around on the balance-bike! |
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| Lunch-time, relaxed and delicious. |
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| Katy took advantage of the courgette harvest to do up some fine zucchini bread. |
THE WORK:
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| In the greenhouses, Jeff and Morgan training tomato plants. |
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| Thibault. |
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| Grubby black fingers after training tomatoes! |
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| Jeff ties up the strings for the tomato plants. |
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| Luckily we are here for the very first tomatoes of the season. |
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| Gorgeous fresh radishes. |
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| Katy, proud of her greenbean harvesting. |
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| Preparing baskets for Morgan's AMAP activities (CSA baskets). |
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| There are two AMAP's per week with 20-25 baskets each. |
OUT AND ABOUT IN THE AREA:
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| On the weekend we went to a vide grenier (village garage sale) in the nearby village of Landaul and found some organic Breton galettes, made primarily with local buckwheat flour. |
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| Katy delighted with the galette, smothered in chocolate sauce. |
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| We went to the nearby beach of Erdeven with Morgan, Thibault, Julie and Lina. |
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| Katy and Bo. Can't complain about the weather or the scenery. |
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| Late-afternoon picnic. |
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| Morgan and Katy on a day-ride into Auray. |
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| This part of Brittany is quite progressive with its local small-scale organic production. Here is an organic goat farm making artesenal goat cheese, a few kilometers from Calan. |
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| Auray's picturesque centre. |
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| One thing's a constant in Brittany: the ever-present crêperies... |
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| Port St. Goustan at Auray. |
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| Exploring the streets of the port area. |
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| We also found the time to visit La Forest bordering the Rivière d'Etel to the west of Auray. Bodhi completely captivated by the green spell of the woods. |
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| Jeff and Bo exploring some bunkers/tunnels. |
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| A glance at the remote watery surroundings of the Rivière d'Etel... |
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| Mammy and Bo enjoying the hike... |
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| In La Forest, a gorgeous house typical of the region, complete with all stone walls and a roof made of straw (called chaume) that was formerly ubiquitous in Morbihan. |
And there you have it. Kilometers ridden? Probably just over 4000. WWOOF stays: 15! Total expenses (not including December's flights to England and USA) for one year of travel: 1130 Euros each (Jeff and Katy). Organic vegetables eaten: countless. Friends made and regions explored: dozens and dozens. Bodhi went from a 13-month old just beginning to walk independently to a 2 year-old whipping around fearlessly on balance bikes, hiking and running forest trails, and climbing whatever's in his path. And we experienced some of the real France, the legendary France, along the way...
... more to come...
